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I feel a bit silly writing a new answer when Jduv's is so good, and so well received, but I'm going to anyway partly because I want to use simpler terms, and partly because I have a point to make about attack.
Imagine you had a signal that was sometimes too loud, and sometimes too quiet. You'd deal with it by turning the volume down when it's too loud, and ...
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In order to properly answer this question we need to identify that in the world of guitar effects there are three distinct ways to produce distortion (or clipping): overdrive, boost, and fuzz. Each has it's own unique characteristics. In addition, let's consider the three different ways to run a pedal + amplifier overdrive configuration: clean amp + pedal ...
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From a sound design / sound engineer context
As an effect, distortion is any process that alters the sound in the harmonic (tone, timbre) domain.
Overdrive is a type of distortion. It is achieved by saturating (overdriving) the valves in an amplifier (or a simulation of this dynamic).
In that context, overdrive is a subset of distortion.
From a guitar ...
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Delay
Delay is an effect in itself, and also the basis of some of the other effects1.
Delay is simply the effect of playing the input signal some time later than it was fed into the device. Delays can be as short as a couple of milliseconds, as long as a bar, or more.
Usually, but not always, the delayed signal is combined with the original signal, ...
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It theoretically does not matter. Effects that are "linear" do not depend on order. Both reverb and delay are linear(in fact, reverb is a type of delay).
Therefore the issue depends on the details. Pedals are not perfect and some different orders could potentially produce different results... but generally be close.
Here is a scenario where order matters. ...
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There's no reason not to try an effect if you want to. Sure, some kind of effect might mask some bad habits (reverb and delay might sort off mess your timing), but distortion for example is almost like playing another instrument, and if you're into punk/rock, the sooner you try it the better. You will have to figure out ways to mute the strings and reduce ...
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Perhaps it was EBow. It amplifies string vibrations (using magnetic fields) providing very controllable feedback effect which allows to get very smooth and sustained sound.
Also check out this video on Youtube. Although it is old it demonstrates very wide range of possibilities of this device.
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The sounds in the songs you've listed are actually pretty different to my ears, but I'll try to generalize and go through some examples.
Here is the raw line for reference. This is a modified strat with an EMG-SA in the neck position. This is important because EMG is an active pickup so the signal level is higher. This means it will distort sooner. So keep ...
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A flanger adds a delayed version of the input signal back into itself. This produces a theoretically infinite series of equally spaced notches in the spectrum of the output signal (the spacing is 1/delay-time). Often this is referred to as comb filtering since a graph of the spectrum looks like a comb with downward pointing teeth. Usually flangers vary ...
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No.
A sustain pedal is a simple switch with a piece of cable attached that the keyboard uses to emulate the function of the sustain pedal on the piano - which basically means "let ring the notes when the pedal is depressed even if you lift your fingers off the keys".
A sustainer pedal is a compressor, which is a thing that that limits the dynamic range of ...
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Reverb
Reverb is the effect of playing a sound in an enclosed space, or a simulation of that effect. The sound travels from the source to your ear directly, but it also bounces off surfaces in the room to reach your ear, each reflection arriving at a different time, with different frequencies lost.
If you play with no effects, in a room full of soft ...
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very simple answer...
E-Bow
I've had one for 30 years, there's nothing quite like it, but it is a technique in & of itself.
You can do the standard 'never-ending note' by simply holding it over a string & sliding/hammering up & down the fretboard, but with a little practise you can make it sound like violin/cello spiccato by banging the string ...
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One easy way: Use a sustain effect processor (Glossary of Guitar Effects).
A sustain effect just saves the highest volume you played and raises the volume gradually as the tone from the guitar decays, thus effectively sustaining the volume at an equal level or at least a slowly decaying level in the dry channel.
Other Tips:
Use a good guitar. Bad guitars ...
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First off we should understand that the nature of a plucked string is to decay exponentially.
Therefore, sustain on a guitar string is literally impossible without some sort of electronic enhancement.
Before I suggest any of a number of ways to create sustain, let's examine the contributing factors that allow some guitars (electric or non-electric) to ...
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If you are are playing at high gain/volume, then you will need to mute any unplayed strings with your left-hand, or the palm of your right-hand to stop the strings feeding back. Good muting technique is essential when playing loud rock/metal.
If at any point in the song you stop playing, or between songs, you can roll the volume pot off to mute the output ...
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Often called violining, either use the swell (volume) pedal or the volume pot on your guitar. Strat style guitars are pretty good for this, as Leo thought to put the volume control quite close to the strings/bridge, so a little finger can roll from palm to tip as you pluck the string. Then it gets rolled off again the opposite way, ready for the next note. ...
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Reverb and delay aren't completely unrelated effects - reverb can be thought of as a network of many short delays.
While reverb can provide a realistic simulation of an acoustic space, using a lot of it will smear the effected signal in the time dimension, and tend to push it back in the mix, making it sound more distant. If reverb is applied to a signal ...
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I believe that this is referring to where you would place your finger to get the desired harmonics. The harmonic that generates the major third is right before the 4th fret, which would be 3.85. 3.2 would be a harmonic near just beyond the 3rd fret, which should give you a D on the G string. This picture outlines the placement of the harmonics and the ...
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My explanation is more for generic compressors, but I believe it is relevant for guitars as well.
A compressor is most often used to amplify quiet sounds more than loud sounds.
You could think of it as someone turning up the volume on quiet parts, and down on loud parts. This is done by a compressor much faster than a human with a volume knob could :)
As a ...
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Things which sound good "in the mix" often sound bad outside it. Something to always consider when dialing in guitar sounds. Some things to think about.
The guitar is a midrange instrument, always make sure that you dont scoop your EQ settings.
Always EQ before distortion/gain. Distortion will naturally compress, and will effect the entire signal. You want ...
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The short answer is yes, it matters. How much it matters, and whether it matters to you, depends on your pedals, the combinations in which you use them, and your desired sound.
Here are some general rules that most people follow; nothing's hard and fast:
Gain before synth. Effects come in two basic families. Gain effects alter the amplitude of portions of ...
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One way to get this effect is with an envelope filter. Then you will get it automatically, as the volume starts at 0 when the string is plucked, and then increases (with the correct settings).
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Some effects (like wah or fuzz) work better* when they come before the preamp while some effects (like delay or reverb) work better* if they come after it. Yet some others (chorus or tremolo) can work equally well either way depending on the sound you're looking for.
To provide this flexibility, most amps are equipped with an effects loop. It consists of an ...
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The important part of a violin sound is a gentle attack at the start of each note. Some players use a volume or swell pedal to achieve this: the note is played just as the pedal swells the volume in. Others use the volume pot on the guitar. Strats and Teles are quite easy to do this on, as the knob is close to where the string is picked. Again, the string is ...
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I have a somewhat unique approach to playing bass, much more aggressive lines and sometimes play what would be considered a lead line if a guitar was playing it (or other lead instrument). With that said, my current setup is as follows:
Tuner pedal- Obviously used for tuning but can be very helpful to act as a mute. This is especially helpful if you need ...
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Of course, it is a matter of taste.
You're correct that a chorus creates multiple “voices”, but actually that's a good reason to put it after distortion! For distortion is nonlinear, which means that if you put in a combination of multiple voices, the result will be different from when you put each voice individually through distortion and mix ...
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Pitch Pedal / Whammy Pedal
Although this might fit in the octaver pedal, it deserves a category of its own. This pedal raises or lowers the pitch of the incoming sound. Most models and emulation go from one octave below to two octave above. Lowering the pitch by an octave enables you to simulate dive-bombing without a floating tremolo for example.
The ...
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Amp Simulator
Although it is not really an effect in the sense it changes the sound before it enters the speaker, it is found more and more by digital guitar effect units.
An amp simulator does what it says: it simulates a guitar amplifier, mimicing mostly famous guitar amps by adding a combination of effects mentioned earlier (like boost, distortion).
...
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